How to use screen savers

A screen saver is a moving picture or pattern that appears on your computer screen when you haven't used the mouse or keyboard for a certain period of time. Screen savers are a great way to personalise your PC. Here are a few things you can do with them in Windows:

Turn the screen saver on

When you turn on a screen saver, it gets added to an unsaved theme. For more information, see Get started with themes.

  1. Open Screen Saver Settings by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Screen saver in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Change screen saver.

  2. In the Screen saver list, tap or click an option, then tap or click OK.

Tip

Tip

  • To stop a screen saver and return to your desktop, tap the screen, move your mouse, or press any key.

Change your screen saver

If you want to try a different screen saver, Windows comes with several you can choose from.

  1. Open Screen Saver Settings by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Screen saver in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Change screen saver.

  2. In the Screen saver list, tap or click the screen saver that you want to use, then tap or click OK.

    Tip

    Tip

    • To see what your screen saver will look like, tap or click Preview before you tap or click OK. To end the screen saver preview, tap the screen, move your mouse or press any key, then tap or click OK to save your changes.

Turn the screen saver off

If you don't want to have a screen saver at all, you can turn it off.

  1. Open Screen Saver Settings by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Screen saver in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Change screen saver.

  2. In the Screen saver list, tap or click (None), then tap or click OK.

Use your own photos as a screen saver

You can create a personalised screen saver by selecting some photos to use in a slideshow.

  1. Open Screen Saver Settings by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Screen saver in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Change screen saver.

  2. Under Screen saver, tap or click Photos.

  3. To change one or more of the screen saver settings, tap or click Settings, and then do one or more of the following:

    • To specify the photos to use for your screen saver, tap or click Browse, choose the folder that contains the photos you want to use, then tap or click OK.

    • To change the speed of the slide show, tap or click the list next to Slide show speed.

    • If you want the photos to appear in a random order, select the Shuffle pictures checkbox.

  4. Tap or click Save to save the setting changes you made. Then tap or click OK in the Screen Saver Settings dialogue box.

Delete a screen saver from your PC

If you're having problems with a screen saver you installed or know you'll never use it, you can uninstall it from your PC. (The screen savers that come with Windows can't be uninstalled.)

  1. Open Screen Saver Settings by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Screen saver in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Change screen saver.

  2. Tap or click the screen saver that you want to delete, then tap or click Uninstall.